Electric railway.



PATENTED APR. 9, 1907.

8-, B. STEWART, JR.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

' APPLICATION FILED APR. 29. 1901.

Figl.

W'ITST1655'CS Inventor. Samuel Bfitcwar'hJrr insulators I.

entree stares iriaisrr SAMUEL B. STEW'ART, JR, OF SOHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORAl.l(I)N OF NEW Y ORK.

ELECTRBC RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent. 'j'atemez.

Application filed Ap l 29,1901. Serial No 57.873.

To all whom it may concern.-

Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a novel construction of contact-shoe which permits an arrangement of the housing for the third rail from the weather and fro [11 accidental contact and which is designed to be securely and yet yieldingly supported from the car.

irons E. The clearance between the roof of the housing and the top of a shoe engaging the top of the third rail is only sullicientto allow for the vertical oscillation of the con tact-shoe. To this end the roof of the housing, which comprises aboard. C and the bent portions of the straps A, extends subs'antially at right angles to the upright wall of the housing, so that between the inner end of i the roof and the upper portion of the inner third rail adapted ell'ectively to protect the side wall, which does not reach quite to the top ol the third. rail, there only a very narl row slot, through which the ordinary form of Of the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation i of a roadway constructed in accordance with the invention, a portion of the housing being broken away to show the collector-shoe carried by the car. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of a roadway structure embodying the invention. Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a plan and ele- 'vation of the modified contact-shoe, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the collector-shoe and one of its supports in order to show on a larger scale the means for supporting the shoe.

The third rail is supported upon third-rail These third-rail insulators are now a well-known article of manufacture and generally consist, first, of a metal base J, havt third-rail shoe could not possibly pass.

The contact-shoe itself, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, consists of a thin netal plate 8, ol steel or wronglit-iron, which is adapted to enter third, of a petticoated supporting-piece F, of metal, which is provided with lugs ll, which retain the flanges of the third rail. In order to prevent these lugs from being broken off by the movements of the third rail, there is a space intervening between the lugs and the top of thesupport which is wider than the tlnckness of the rail-flange, as disclosed in l is permitted to swing freely on the supports The inner wall of the housing a timber G, utilized as a wheel-guard, and boards D, secured to the timber G by anglefreely the narrow slot in, the housing and has the edges of its surface which engages with the third rail beveled, as shown at ii, in order to cause it to rise over irregularities in the rail. The shoe is so supported from the car that when irregularities in the third rail occur or when the shoe passes from rail to rail or when the rail is interrupted the shoe can readily yield, so that it will not be subjected to strains and consequent breakage.

The flat horizontal portion of the shoe is provided at one side with a vertical projection L, which is per.l."orated at N, the perforation being countersunk, as shown at M. The shoe is supported by i of these perforations ,N in the follow n inner: Brackets Y depend from the wooden apport Z, suitably mounted on the car. These brackets are perforated for the reception of supporting-pins l which pass through the perforations Iii in t he vertical portion lJ of the shoe S. The supports P are held in place by dowelpins Q. It shmdd be partitaalarly noted that the holes i\' are of considerably greater diameter than that of the pins l, so that the shoe or pins l, and the horizontal portion 5 can have sullicient vertical movement to cornpensato for irregularities in the third rail. The righthand or inner brackets are countersunk face to face with the countersunk portions M of the shoe portion L, and helical springs O, iiionnted on the pin P, are held in these countersunk portions. The right-hand or inner brackets are also further extended downwardly, and adjustable stops U in the ICO extended portions are adapted to serve as means for positively limiting the downward vertical movement of the shoe S. A wearingplate XV is secured to the lower portion of the right-hand end of the roof of the housing and serves to positively limit the upper vertical movement of the shoe and to prevent injury to the roof of the housing. If the shoe S strikes a slight obstruction or irregularity in the third rail, its beveled edge K will tend to lift it over the obstruction, and the loose connection of the shoe with its srpport will permit it to be raised against the action of the spring 0, which serves as a cushion. In this case the upper projection L of the shoe is pivoted against the lower lug X, formed on the right-hand side of the outside brackets Y. W hen the third rail is interrupted for some reason, as at a crossing, and the shoe tends to drop by its own weight, it is permitted by its loose mounting to drop until it 6011183 in contact with the limiting device U, which is so arranged that the shoe cannot drop to such extent that it will not be permitted to ride rip on the advance portion of the rail by means of its beveled edges K. The shoe is, however, not permitted to impinge violently against the device U, because the spring 0 in this case acts as a cushion, the extended portion L of the shoe being pivoted against the upper lug X, formed on the right hand of the outer or left-hand brackets Y. The spring 0 should be suiliciently powerful so that the shoe is normally held at all times freely on the pin P.

It is evident from the above description that the third rail is adequately protected and at the same time free access to the rail is provided for the improved form of contactshoe.

The metal straps A should be constructed of wrought-iron of about three quarters of an inch thickness and two inches wide, so that the housing is suflicicntly strong to support the weight of persons who might be walking along the track. The slot in the side of the housing is so narrow that access to it can be had only with great difficulty, and it is practically impossible for sleet to be driven therethrough to coat the third rail with ice. The electrical connection to the car-motors from the contact-shoe may be made in any suitable manner, as by the flexible lead V, shown in Fig. 3 as attached to the shoe in a suitable manner to provide a good electrical connection.

hat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. A contact-shoe, which comprises a flat metal plate adapted to enter a narrow lateral slot in a third-rail housing, said plate being provided with a perforated angular portion serving as a support.

2. The combination with a contact-shoe support, of a shoe having a vertical portion which has a perforation larger than the support, to permit vertical play of the shoe, said shoe having a thin horizontal portion adapted to enter a narrow lateral slot of a third rail housing.

3. The combination with a contact-shoe support, of a flat shoe carried horizontally on said support and having a vertical portion which has perforation larger than the sup port, to permit vertical play-of the shoe, of a spring which presses against said vertical portion to serve as a cushion during the vertical movements of the shoe.

a. The combination with a support, of a thin flat shoe having vertical portion on which the shoe is so swung from said support, that the thin portion of the shoe has a vertical play, and means for positively limiting such swinging play.

5. A thin metal shoe having a perforated angular portion, in combination with a support for said angular portion which is smaller than the perforation therethrough, whereby the main portion of the shoe is supported horizontally to have a slight vertical play.

(i. A thin metal shoe having a vertical portion provided with a countersunk perforation, in combination with a support which is smaller than the perforation therethrough,

and a spring fitting in the countersunk portion to serve as a cushion for the shoe during its vertical movements.

7. The combination with brackets depending from a car, of bars or supporting-pins between said brackets, the vertical part of a collector structure freely mounted on said bars, whereby the horizontal portion of the shoe has a vertical swinging play, and a spring between said vertical portion and the inner bracket, whereby when the horizontal portion of the shoe is raised by an irregularity of the third rail the vertical shoe portion will be pivoted against the lower part of the outer bracket, and the spring will serve as a cushion, and when the horizontal portion of the shoe is depressed by its own weight the vertical portion of the shoe will be pivoted against the upper part of the outer bracket and the spring will again serve as a cushion.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my IlO 

